What do blind people do all day? “I bet they just sit around and do nothing all day because I cannot imagine what they could possibly do since they cannot see.” This is such a common sentiment that the “sighted” out in the world feel about us blind folks. And unfortunately, some blind people feel this way too, especially in the first days and months after losing their vision. I know I certainly did. It is such an overwhelming loss to process and at the end of it, we are all still human and want to live the fullest life we can, even though it has to be different than what it used to be.

So, what can blind people do for hobbies and entertainment? This is the question that I want to answer over a series of posts, at least from my perspective. I have slowly filled my “hobby bucket” with new and old hobbies, all of which are adapted and adjusted for a guy with total vision loss. It has taken a lot of imagination and willingness to try stuff out and abandon ideas along the way to get here. And, I am certainly not done yet as I want more and more things to refill my life with. I believe that we should never be satisfied with our current existence, that we should always be pushing forward to learn more, to have more fun, and most of all, to feel the most joy that we can. Being blind is no excuse to miss out on all that.

To start with, I think it is important to establish what I used to do when I could see, to fill my down time. That way we can see where I am coming from and where I still want to go. I was a business owner and operator and that in itself occupied much of day time. The fact is, I still am a business owner and am still striving to do as much as I can as an audio engineer to help provide for my family. It does look very different than it used to and my wife and kids are a lot more involved than they used to be. This is just how it has to be and I am coming to a place where I am okay with that. But, enough about boring work stuff, I will likely write more about that in another post down the line. This one is about fun and entertainment.

I was a big reader of fiction, mostly science fiction and fantasy. I listened to a ton of podcasts as well, covering technology, history, pop culture, and some more esoteric stuff like pens, pencils and stationery. I know, I know, that sounds fascinating to all of you but I love analog things like writing on paper. I also am a big sports fan and played fantasy sports in the sports that I followed, football and baseball. I love movies and some television shows as well, especially those with super-heroes and other action packed types of content. I definitely spent a lot of time on YouTube watching content about all of the above things. Finally, I tried to spend regular time reading and studying scripture and growing in my understanding of my faith.

So, all of the above made up the majority of my personal time. In looking at it now, I was a busy guy. I also spent time exercising, even participating in a few 5K races. I went on regular date night with my bride which we both thoroughly enjoyed. I was also a homeschooling parent and taught classes to my kids and others, as part of that. I had an active social life, spending lots of time with our close friends, chatting a playing games or just eating out together. I attended sporting events, concerts, and travelled to the mountains to just get away sometimes. In other words, I had a full life and felt blessed by it. Then, I went blind two years ago and it all came crashing down.

This is where I will leave it for now as that is already a lot of words for you to read. My next post will be about what I have done to rebuild the fun and joy part of my life and perhaps I will have time to cover one of my adapted hobbies. Thanks for reading, it means a lot to me that even one person reads them.